Tools of the Trade - Some definitions

Contour(2d domain):

Set of curves correspoding to a set of possible data values. Each curve represents all data of a single value.

Probe(1d,2d,3d domain):

interactive querying of visual display at a specific point to obtain numeric value(s) at that point.

Gradient (2d, 3d domain):

Produces the vector field given by the gradient of scalar data.

Graph(1d domain):

Depicts a function of the form y=f(x) by a curve in the plane

Histogram(1d,2d,3d domain):

Graph showing frequency of occurence of data values.

Isosurface(3d domain):

Three-dimensional analog of a contour; one isosurface is a surface representing all data of a single value.

Particles(2d,3d domain):

Moving points show the motion of tiny (usually weightless) objects in a vector field.

Slice(3d domain):

Cuts volume data to produce a planar subset of data.

Streakline or Trace (2s, 3d domain):

Shows the path that a particle will take in a vector field.

Surface Plot(2d domain):

Depicts a function of the form z=f(x,y) by a surface in space.

Vectors(2d,3d domain):

Arrows or other icons used to display vectors at the grid points when displaying a vector field.

Volume Visualization(3d domain):

Displays volumetric (3D-lattice) data by showing a color, greyscale or object at every grid point. Usually uses transparency to show as much data as possible.

Some auxilliary tools:

Animate:

Provides flow control for time series data, to produce a movie of sequential time frames.

Axes:

displays axes. Help understand where the data is

Bounding box:

the smallest axis-aligned box containing the data.

Colormap:

a function that maps data values to colors.

Crop:

Restrict area of data to be used.

Labels:

Text used to annotate visualization

Reader:

Reads input from a data file into the program

Sample:

Form a new data structure at a set of samples points, usually by interpolation.

Scale:

Performs scaling of the underlying grid.

Triangulate:

Adds topology to a set of points to build a triangular mesh.

Writer:

Writes processed data auxiliary structures or images to files.